Touch screen panel

ABSTRACT

A touch screen panel includes: a flat panel display including an upper substrate, a lower substrate, and pixels arranged on a display region of the lower substrate in a stripe arrangement; first sensing cells arranged in a first direction on the upper substrate and second sensing cells arranged in a second direction on the upper substrate; first connection patterns electrically connecting adjacent ones of the first sensing cells to each other in the first direction, and second connection patterns electrically connecting adjacent ones of the second sensing cells to each other in the second direction, wherein at least one of the first connection patterns and the second connection patterns is inclined so that it partially overlaps with the pixels.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/299,297, filed Oct. 20, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/949,392, filed Nov. 18, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No.9,477,351, which claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2010-0025660, filed Mar. 23, 2010, the entirecontents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Aspects of embodiments according to the present invention relate to atouch screen panel.

2. Description of Related Art

A touch screen panel is an input device that allows a user to use a handor an object to select contents displayed on a screen such as an imagedisplay device, etc.

To this end, the touch screen panel is provided on a front face of theimage display device and generates electrical signals corresponding topositions directly contacted by a person's hand or an object. Therefore,the command contents selected at the contact position are received asthe input signals. As the touch screen panel can replace a separateinput device that is operated by being connected with the image displaydevice such as a keyboard or a mouse, the application of the touchscreen panel is increasing.

Types of the touch screen panel include a resistive type, a lightsensing type, and a capacitive type, and so on.

Among those, the capacitive type touch screen panel generates electricalsignals corresponding to contact positions by sensing the change incapacitance formed by a conductive sensing pattern, other sensingpatterns around the conductive sensing pattern, or a ground electrode,etc. when a person's hand or object contacts the touch screen panel.

In order to clearly determine the contact position at the contactsurface, the sensing pattern is configured to include first sensingpatterns (X patterns) formed to be connected along a first direction andsecond sensing patterns (Y patterns) formed to be connected along asecond direction.

In some related art, the first sensing patterns and second sensingpatterns are located on different layers. In other words, as oneexample, the first sensing patterns are located on the lower layer, thesecond sensing patterns are located on the upper layer, and aninsulating layer is interposed therebetween.

However, when the first sensing patterns and second sensing patterns areformed on different layers, a transparent conductive material (forexample, ITO) used as the sensing patterns has large surface resistance.Accordingly, in order to reduce the surface resistance, a width of aconnection part connecting the sensing patterns located on the samelayer is implemented to be wide. However, an overlapping area ofconnection parts respectively located on the upper and lower layersbecomes large, and the parasitic capacitance becomes large accordingly,such that the sensitivity of the sensing patterns is deteriorated.

SUMMARY

Aspects of embodiments according to the present invention are directedtoward a touch screen panel where first sensing cells arranged in afirst direction and second sensing cells arranged in a second directionare formed on the same layer, and first connection patterns connectingthe first sensing cells to each other and/or second connection patternsconnecting the second sensing cells to each other are made of a samematerial as a metal pattern formed at the periphery of the touch screenpanel to reduce static electricity vulnerability of the connectionpatterns.

Further, the embodiments provide a touch screen panel, wherein theconnection patterns formed on the touch screen panel are formed to beinclined at an angle (e.g., a predetermined angle) in order to preventthem from completely overlapping with pixels arranged on a displayregion of the flat display panel in a stripe arrangement, therebyimproving visibility, in forming the touch screen panel on the uppersubstrate forming the display panel of the flat panel display.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provideda touch screen panel including: a flat panel display including an uppersubstrate, a lower substrate, and pixels arranged on a display region ofthe lower substrate in a stripe arrangement; first sensing cellsarranged in a first direction on the upper substrate and second sensingcells arranged in a second direction on the upper substrate; firstconnection patterns electrically connecting adjacent ones of the firstsensing cells to each other in the first direction and second connectionpatterns electrically connecting adjacent ones of the second sensingcells to each other in the second direction, wherein at least one of thefirst connection patterns and the second connection patterns areinclined so that they partially overlap with the pixels.

The first connection patterns and/or the second connection patterns inthe inclined form may be made of a low resistance opaque metal, and thefirst and second sensing cells may be on a display region of the uppersubstrate that overlaps with the display region of the lower substrate.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a touch screen panel including: first connection patternsextending in a first direction on a transparent substrate; secondconnection patterns extending in a second direction on the transparentsubstrate and being spaced from the first connection patterns; firstsensing cells arranged in the first direction, adjacent ones of thefirst sensing cells being electrically coupled to each other by acorresponding one of the first connection patterns in the firstdirection; and second sensing cells arranged in the second direction,adjacent ones of the second sensing cells being electrically coupled toeach other by a corresponding one of the second connection patterns inthe second direction.

One of the second connection patterns may partially overlap acorresponding one of the first sensing cells adjacent to two of thesecond sensing cells that are coupled to the one of the secondconnection patterns, and may further including an insulating layerbetween the one of the second connection patterns and the correspondingone of the first sensing cells.

The insulating layer may be formed in a plurality of island forms thatare spaced from each other and may include an inorganic insulating layerof a transparent material selected from the group consisting of siliconoxide (SiO₂) and silicon nitride (SiNx).

The touch screen panel may further include a plurality of metal patternslocated at a periphery (e.g., edge) of a display region of the uppersubstrate on which the first and second sensing cells are located, themetal patterns electrically coupling the first and second sensing cellscolumn-by-column or row-by-row.

The first and second connection patterns and the metal patterns may beon a same layer and have a resistance value lower than that of amaterial forming the first and second sensing cells.

The second sensing cells may be alternately arranged with the firstsensing cells so that they do not overlap with the first sensing cells.

Adjacent ones of the second sensing cells may be electrically coupled toeach other by at least one of the second connection patterns, and thefirst and second connection patterns may be formed in a rectangular barform.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, each of thefirst and second connection patterns coupling the adjacent first orsecond sensing cells to each other is made of the same low resistancemetal material as the metal pattern formed at the periphery of the touchscreen panel, and each connection pattern is arranged not to overlapwith each other to reduce the vulnerability of static electricity of theconnection patterns, thereby making it possible to overcome anelectrostatic discharge (ESD) problem.

Further, in forming the touch screen panel on the upper substrateforming the display panel of the flat panel display, the connectionpatterns formed on the touch screen panel are formed to be inclined atan angle (e.g., a predetermined angle) in order to prevent them fromcompletely overlapping with the pixels arranged on the display region ofthe flat display panel in a stripe arrangement such that theinterruption of the light emitting region of the pixels is minimized orreduced, thereby improving the visibility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, together with the specification, illustrateexemplary embodiments of the present invention, and, together with thedescription, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an arrangement of sensing patterns formedon a touch screen panel according to a first exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along lines a-a′ and b-b′ ofFIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a plan view showing an arrangement of sensing patterns formedon a touch screen panel according to a second exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along lines A-A′ and B-B′ ofFIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a plan view showing an arrangement of sensing patterns formedon a touch screen panel according to a third exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along lines I-I′ and II-II′ ofFIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is an exploded plan view of the touch screen panel according tothe second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B;

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are plan views showing an arrangement of sensingpatterns formed on a touch screen panel

according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing first and second connection patternsaccording to the embodiment of FIG. 5B and an arrangement state ofpixels formed on a display panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, only certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention have been shown and described,simply by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art wouldrealize, the described embodiments may be modified in various differentways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature and not restrictive. In addition, when anelement is referred to as being “on” another element, it may be directlyon the another element or be indirectly on the another element with oneor more intervening elements interposed therebetween. Also, when anelement is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to” anotherelement, it can be directly connected to the another element or beindirectly connected to the another element with one or more interveningelements interposed therebetween. Hereinafter, like reference numeralsrefer to like elements.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an arrangement of sensing patterns formedon a touch screen panel according to a first exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken alonglines A-A′ and B-B′ of FIG. 1A.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, sensing patterns include first and secondsensing patterns 120 and 140 that are alternately arranged. The secondsensing patterns 140 are connected to each other in one column unithaving the same X coordinate, and the first sensing patterns 120 areconnected to each other in one row unit having the same Y coordinate.

Here, the first sensing patterns 120 are configured to include firstsensing cells 122 arranged in one row having the same Y coordinate alonga first direction (row direction) and a first connection pattern 124that connects the adjacent first sensing cells 122 to each other. Thesecond sensing patterns 140 are configured to include second sensingcells 142 arranged in one column having the same X coordinate along asecond direction (column direction) and a second connection pattern 144that connects the adjacent second sensing cells 142 to each other.

Here, the first sensing cells 122 are electrically connected to eachother through the first connection pattern 124 that are made of atransparent conductive material on the same layer and are made of thesame material as the first sensing cells 122 on the same layer.

However, the second connection pattern 144 that electrically connectsthe second sensing cells 142 to each other may not be formed on the samelayer as the first and second sensing cells 122 and 142 in order toavoid short with the first connection pattern 124.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the second connectionpattern 144 is below the first connection pattern 124, and an insulatinglayer 130 is formed between the first and second connection patterns 124and 144 in order to prevent the short therebetween.

Here, the insulating layer 130 may be formed in the crossing region ofthe first and second connection patterns 124 and 144 as islands.

Further, the connection pattern 144 is made of low resistance metal. Forexample, the connection pattern 144 may be formed at an end of thedisplay region in which the first and second sensing cells 122 and 142are formed and may be made of the same material as a metal pattern forsupplying the signals sensed by the sensing cells to a driving circuitside.

According to the structure of the embodiment of FIG. 1, the secondconnection pattern 144 is made of the low resistance metal material tominimize or reduce the width of the connection pattern, thereby makingit possible to reduce the effect of the parasitic capacitance generatedin the crossing region of the first and second connection patterns 124and 144.

However, even in this case, the connection pattern 124 is still made ofa transparent conductive material having a high resistance value. Sincethe area of the connection pattern 124 overlapping the crossing regionis reduced and since the connection pattern 124 is located above theinsulating layer, the connection pattern 124 is vulnerable to staticelectricity applied from the outside.

Therefore, a structure according to another embodiment of the presentinvention is derived to improve the above-mentioned structure. Theconnection pattern that connects the first and second sensing cells toeach other is made of the same metal material (e.g., a low resistancematerial) as the metal pattern formed at the periphery of the touchscreen panel, and each connection pattern is arranged not to cross witheach other to reduce the vulnerability of the connection pattern tostatic electricity.

FIG. 2A is a plan view showing an arrangement of sensing patterns formedon a touch screen panel according to a second exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken alonglines A-A′ and B-B′ of FIG. 2A.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, sensing patterns according to a secondembodiment of the present invention include the first and second sensingpatterns 120 and 140 that are alternately arranged. The second sensingpatterns 140 are connected to each other in one column unit having thesame X coordinate, and the first sensing patterns 120 are connected toeach other in one row unit having the same Y coordinate.

Here, the first sensing patterns 120 are configured to include firstsensing cells 122 arranged in one row having the same Y coordinate alonga first direction (row direction) and a first connection pattern 124that connects the adjacent first sensing cells 122 to each other, andthe second sensing patterns 140 are configured to include second sensingcells 142 arranged in one column having the same X coordinate along asecond direction (column direction) and a second connection pattern 144that connects the adjacent second sensing cells 142 to each other.

Here, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the firstsensing cells 122 and the second sensing cells 142 are formed on thesame layer, and the first and second sensing cells 122 and 142 may bemade of a transparent material to implement the operation of the touchscreen panel. For example, the first and second sensing cells 122 and142 may be made of a transparent conductive material, for example,indium tin oxide (hereinafter, ITO).

Further, in order for the first sensing cells 122 and the second sensingcells 142 to serve as sensing electrodes, the first sensing cells 122arranged in the first direction are electrically connected to eachother, and the second sensing cells 142 arranged in the second directionare electrically connected to each other.

Here, the first sensing cells 122 are electrically connected to eachother by the first connection pattern 124, and the second sensing cells142 are electrically connected to each other by the second connectionpattern 134.

Here, since the first sensing cells 122 and the second sensing cells 142are formed on the same layer, the first connection pattern 124 and thesecond connection pattern 144 may be formed on the same layer as thefirst and second sensing cells 122 and 142 to avoid the short.

In FIGS. 2A and 2B, the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144are formed below the first and second sensing cells 122 and 142.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the first and second connection patterns124 and 144 are first formed on a transparent substrate 110, and each ofthe first and second sensing cells 122 and 142 are formed to contact anend of the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144,respectively.

In other words, the adjacent first sensing cells 122 are electricallyconnected to each other by the first connection pattern 124, and theadjacent second sensing cells 142 are electrically connected to eachother by the second connection pattern 144.

Further, since the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144 areformed on the same layer, they are formed to be spaced apart by asuitable interval in order to avoid the short therebetween.

In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the second connectionpattern 144 overlaps with a portion of the first sensing cell 122, andthe insulating layer 130 is formed between the second connection pattern144 and the portion of the first sensing cell 122 in order to preventthe second connection pattern 144 and the first sensing cell 122 fromelectrically connecting to each other.

Here, the insulating layer 130 may be an inorganic insulating layer of atransparent material such as silicon oxide (SiO₂) or silicon nitride(SiNx).

As shown in FIG. 2A, the first connection pattern 124 extends in a firstdirection (row direction) and electrically connects the first sensingcells 122, and the second connection pattern 144 is arranged to bespaced from the first connection pattern 124 and extends in a seconddirection (column direction) and electrically connects the adjacentsecond sensing cells 142 to each other.

In FIG. 2A, a pair of the second connection patterns 144 connect theadjacent second sensing cells 142 to each other, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, a single secondconnection pattern 144 may be used.

In addition, the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144 may beformed in a rectangular bar shape as shown, but this is shown by way ofexample only, and therefore, the present invention is not limitedthereto.

In one embodiment of the present embodiment, the first and secondconnection patterns 124 and 144 are made of a low resistance metal. Forexample, the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144 may beformed at an end of the display region on which the first and secondsensing cells 122 and 142 are formed and are made of the same materialas the metal pattern that supplies the signals sensed by the sensingcells to the driving circuit.

In this case, since the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144are formed on the same layer as the metal pattern through the sameprocess without requiring the additional masking process for forming thefirst and second connection patterns, the number of processes andmanufacturing time can be reduced.

Further, the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144 connectingthe sensing cells to each other are made of the low resistance metal,not the transparent conductive material such as the sensing cells,thereby making it possible to improve charge flow at the connectionportions of the sensing cells, and thus improve the sensing sensitivityof the sensing cells.

Further, each of the connection patterns 124 and 144 is arranged not tocross with each other to reduce the vulnerability of the connectionpatterns to static electricity, thereby making it possible to overcomeor reduce the electrostatic discharge (ESD) problem. As shown in FIG.2A, in the case of the second connection pattern 144, the overlappingarea occurs between the second connection pattern 144 and the firstsensing cells 122 that are connected by the first connection patterns124, thereby making it possible to prevent charges from concentratingand passing through a narrow space of the second connection pattern 144.

However, as described above, in the overlapping area between the secondconnection patterns 144 and the first sensing cells 122, the insulatinglayer 130 is formed in an island form in order to prevent the shortbetween the second connection patterns 144 and the first sensing cells122.

FIG. 3A is a plan view showing an arrangement of sensing patterns formedon a touch screen panel according to a third exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken alonglines I-I′ and II-II′ of FIG. 3A.

The second embodiment of the present invention in reference to FIG. 2describes the example where the first and second connection patterns 124and 144 are formed on the lower layer, but the present invention is notlimited thereto.

In other words, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the first and secondconnection patterns 124 and 144 may be implemented to be above the firstand second sensing cells 122 and 142. In this case, the sensing cells122 and 142 may be first formed on the transparent substrate 110, andthe first and second connection patterns 124 and 144 may be formedthereon.

More specifically, with the third embodiment of the present invention,the first sensing cells 122 arranged in one row along the firstdirection whose Y coordinates are the same and the second sensing cells142 arranged in one column along a second direction whose X coordinatesare the same are formed on the transparent substrate 110.

Thereafter, the first connection pattern 124 contacting the ends of thefirst sensing cells 122 is formed so that the adjacent first sensingcells 122 are electrically connected to each other, and the secondconnection pattern 144 contacting the ends of the second sensing cells142 is formed so that the adjacent second sensing cells 142 areelectrically connected to each other.

However, even in this case, the second connection pattern 144 overlapswith a portion of the first sensing cell 122, and the insulating layer130 is formed between the overlapping second connection pattern 144 andfirst sensing cell 122 in order to prevent the second connection pattern144 and the first sensing cell 122 from electrically connecting to eachother.

Here, the insulating layer 130 may be an inorganic insulating layer of atransparent material such as silicon oxide (SiO₂) or silicon nitride(SiNx).

Further, as shown, the second connection pattern 144 is arranged to bespaced from the first connection pattern 124 by a suitable interval inorder to avoid the short with the first connection pattern 124.

In the third embodiment, although the sequence of each layer is changed,the detailed configuration and effect are substantially the same as theabove-mentioned second embodiment, and therefore, the detaileddescription thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is an exploded plan view of the touch screen panel according tothe second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch screen panel 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention includes a transparent substrate110, a plurality of first connection patterns 124 extending on thetransparent substrate 110 in the first direction, a plurality of secondconnection patterns 144 extending on the transparent substrate 110 in asecond direction and spaced from the first connection patterns 124, andthe first and second sensing cells 122 and 142 formed on the substrate110 on which the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144 arearranged.

Here, the ends of the first sensing cells 122 are formed to contact theends of the first connection patterns 124, and the first sensing cells122 connected to each other by the first connection patterns 124configure the first sensing pattern 120.

Similarly, the ends of the second sensing cells 142 are formed tocontact the ends of the second connection patterns 144, and the secondsensing cells 142 connected to each other by the second connectionpatterns 144 configure the second sensing pattern 140.

Here, the second connection pattern 144 overlaps with a portion of thefirst sensing cell 122, and the insulating layer 130 in the island formas shown is formed between the overlapping second connection pattern 144and first sensing cell 122 in order to prevent the second connectionpattern 144 and the first sensing cell 122 from electrically connectingto each other.

Here, the insulating layer 130 may be an inorganic insulating layer of atransparent material such as silicon oxide (SiO₂) or silicon nitride(SiNx).

In addition, it further includes a plurality of metal patterns 150 thatare located at a periphery (e.g., edge) of the display area where thefirst and second sensing patterns 120 and 140 are formed andelectrically connect the sensing patterns in one column or row unit toposition detection lines.

In other words, the metal patterns 150 are located at a non-displayregion that is outside of a region where the first and second sensingpatterns 120 and 140 are formed, and are positioned to correspond to thepads 120 a and 140 a of the first and second sensing patterns 120 and140.

Each of the metal patterns 150 connects the sensing patterns 120 and 140in one column or row unit to the position detection line (not shown) tosupply the contact position detection signal to the driving circuit (notshown), etc.

The plurality of metal patterns 150 may be formed through the sameprocess as the first and second connection patterns 124 and 144.Therefore, the metal patterns 150 may be formed on the transparentsubstrate 110 and are made of low resistance material.

Further, the first sensing cells 122 are formed on the transparentsubstrate 110, on which the first and second connection patterns 124 and144 are located, to be connected along the first direction. For example,the first sensing cells 122 may be formed closely in regular patternssuch as a diamond pattern.

The shape of the first sensing cells 122 is not limited to the diamondshape and may be implemented in various shapes where the first sensingcells 122 may be located closely to each other.

The first sensing patterns 120 include a plurality of pads 120 a toelectrically connect the first sensing patterns 120 to the metalpatterns in row units. The pads 120 a of the first sensing patterns 120may be alternately provided at the left and right sides in columns ormay be provided all at the left and/or right sides.

Further, the second sensing cells 142 are formed on the transparentsubstrate 110, on which the first and second connection patterns 124 and144 are arranged, along the second direction and are alternatelyarranged with the first sensing cells 122 not to overlap with the firstsensing cells 122.

In this case, the second sensing cells 142 may be formed closely in thediamond pattern, similar to the first sensing cells 122.

The second sensing patterns 140 include a plurality of pads 140 a toelectrically connect the second sensing patterns 140 to the metalpatterns 150 in row units. The pads 140 a of the second sensing patterns140 may be alternately provided at the upper and lower side in rows ormay be provided at both the upper and lower sides.

Here, the first sensing cells 122 do not overlap with the second sensingcells 142. In other words, the first sensing cells 122 and the secondsensing cells 142 are alternately arranged to space from each other.

As described above, in one embodiment of the present invention, thefirst and second connection patterns 124 and 144 are formed on thelowermost layer of the touch screen panel 100 and do not overlap witheach other, thereby making it possible to reduce the vulnerabilityagainst the static electricity input from the outside and to secure theadhering stability with the insulating film.

In addition, in one embodiment of the present invention, the transparentsubstrate 110 may be the upper substrate of the display panel (notshown) of a flat panel display. Therefore, the first and second sensingcells 122 and 142 may be made of transparent materials that can transmitlight emitted to the touch screen panel 100 from the display panellocated below the touch screen panel 100.

For example, the first and second sensing cells 122 and 142 may be madeof a transparent electrode material such as indium-tin-oxide(hereinafter, ITO).

Further, a protective layer 160 may be formed on the first and secondsensing cells 122 and 142 to cover them. For example, the protectivelayer 160 may be formed of a transparent insulating material having athickness of 400 Å to 1000 Å on the first and second sensing cells 122and 142. However, the protective layer 160 may be omitted according tothe product design.

The third embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has the same configuration as thesecond embodiment except that the first and second connection patterns124 and 144 are formed above the first and second sensing cells 122 and142, and therefore, the exploded plan view and detailed descriptionthereof will be omitted.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are plan views showing an arrangement of the sensingpatterns formed on the touch screen panel according to the fourthembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showingan arrangement state of the first and second connection patterns andpixels formed on the display panel.

However, when the fourth embodiment of the present invention is comparedwith the first to third embodiments, in forming the touch screen panelon the upper substrate forming the display panel of the flat paneldisplay, there is the difference between the fourth embodiment and thefirst to third embodiments in that the first and/or second connectionpatterns 124′ and 144′ formed on the touch screen panel are formed to beinclined at an angle (e.g., a predetermined angle) so that they do notcompletely overlap with pixels 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c (shown in FIG. 6)arranged in a stripe arrangement on the display region 200 of the lowersubstrate forming the display panel. Here, the same reference numeralsrefer to the same components as the first to third embodiments, and thedetailed description thereof will be omitted.

Here, the first and second sensing cells 122 and 142 and the first andsecond connection patterns 124′ and 144′ are formed in the displayregion corresponding to the display region on the lower substrate.

However, for convenience of description, the embodiment shown in FIGS.5B and 5C describes the example that the first and second connectionpatterns 124′ and 144′ are formed below the first and second sensingcells 122 and 142, but the embodiment of the present invention is notlimited thereto. In other words, the first and second connectionpatterns 124′ and 144′ may be formed above the first and second sensingcells 122 and 142.

As described above, the transparent substrate 110 of the touch screenpanel according to an embodiment of the present invention may beimplemented as the upper substrate of the display panel (not shown)configuring the flat panel display device.

Referring first to FIG. 5A, with reference to the structure describedthrough FIG. 1, the second connection pattern 144′ made of the lowresistance metal is implemented in a form inclined at an angle (e.g., apredetermined angle), not in a horizontal and vertical direction.

In addition, referring to FIGS. 5B, 5C and FIG. 6 with reference to thestructure described through FIGS. 2 and 3, the first sensing patterns120 are configured to include the first sensing cells 122 arranged inone row having the same Y coordinate along the first direction (rowdirection) and a first connection pattern 124′ that connects the firstsensing cells 122 to each other, and the second sensing patterns 140 areconfigured to include the second sensing cells 142 arranged in onecolumn having the same X coordinate along a second direction (columndirection) and a second connection pattern 144′ that connects theadjacent second sensing cells 142 to each other, wherein the first andsecond connection patterns 124′ and 144′ are implemented in a forminclined at an angle (e.g., a predetermined angle), not horizontal andvertical directions.

Here, a single one of the first connection pattern 124′ or the secondconnection pattern 144′ may be used to connect two adjacent sensingcells, or, as shown in FIG. 5C, a pair of the first connection patterns124′ may be used to connect two adjacent sensing cells.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C may prevent the first and secondconnection patterns 124′ and 144′ formed on the touch screen panel fromcompletely overlapping with the pixels 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c arrangedin the stripe arrangement on the display region 200 of the display panelwhen the touch screen panel is formed on the upper substrate forming thedisplay panel of the flat panel display.

In other words, as in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, when thefirst and/or second connection patterns are arranged horizontally orvertically, they may completely overlap with the pixels 210 a, 210 b,and 210 c arranged in the stripe arrangement on the display region ofthe display panel.

The connection patterns made of the low resistance metal material haveopaque characteristics, such that light emitted from the display panelis interrupted. When the connection patterns are arranged in the samehorizontal direction or vertical direction as the pixels 210 a, 210 b,and 201 c, some of them may completely overlap the pixels formed in thecorresponding region, such that light emitted from the pixels overlappedwith the connection patterns is interrupted by the connection patterns,and the overlapping region is expressed as a dark point.

In order to overcome the above problem, in the embodiment of the presentinvention as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first and/or second connectionpatterns 124′ and 144′ are arranged to be inclined, such that the casewhere the connection patterns 124′ and 144′ completely overlap with thepixels 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c formed in the corresponding region isminimized, thereby making it possible to overcome the problem ofexpressing the dark point as described above.

While the present invention has been described in connection withcertain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, isintended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangementsincluded within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, andequivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch screen unit comprising: first connectionpatterns arranged in a first direction on a substrate; second connectionpatterns arranged in a second direction on the substrate and beingspaced from the first connection patterns wherein the first and seconddirections define a plane; first sensing cells arranged in the firstdirection, adjacent ones of the first sensing cells being electricallycoupled to each other by a corresponding one of the first connectionpatterns in the first direction; second sensing cells arranged in thesecond direction, adjacent ones of the second sensing cells beingelectrically coupled to each other by a corresponding one of the secondconnection patterns in the second direction; and an insulating layerelectrically isolating the first sensing cells from the second sensingcells, wherein each of the first sensing cells is electrically connectedto each adjacent first sensing cell by at least two of the firstconnection patterns, and wherein the first connection patterns areinclined at an oblique angle with respect to the first or seconddirection.
 2. The touch screen unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein oneof the first connection patterns partially overlaps a corresponding oneof the second sensing cells adjacent to two of the first sensing cellsthat are coupled to the one of the first connection patterns.
 3. Thetouch screen unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulating layerhas a form of a plurality of islands that are spaced from each other. 4.The touch screen unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulatinglayer comprises an inorganic insulating layer of a transparent materialselected from the group consisting of silicon oxide (SiO2) and siliconnitride (SiNx).
 5. The touch screen unit as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe second connection patterns are in the rectangular bar shape.
 6. Thetouch screen unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and secondsensing cells are made of indium-tin-oxide (ITO).
 7. The touch screenunit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a longitudinal direction in whichthe first connection patterns extend is inclined with respect to thefirst or second direction.